Adding images via mms to a draft document

ABSTRACT

A user may use a client device to create a draft document by interacting with a server. The user provides an image in a message (e.g., a multimedia messaging service (MMS) message) from a different device. The server receives the image and modifies the draft (e.g., by updating a web page being displayed on the client device). This process allows the user to type text for a draft using a client device that includes a keyboard (e.g., a desktop or laptop computer) and to add an image to the draft using a second device that includes a camera (e.g., a mobile phone or tablet computer) without having to transfer the image from the second device to the first device.

PRIORITY CLAIM

This Application is a continuation of U.S. Application Serial No.17/730,467, filed Apr. 27, 2022, which is a continuation of U.S.Application Serial No. 16/797,310, filed Feb. 21, 2020, now issued asU.S. Patent No. 11,349,791 on May 31, 2022, which is a continuation ofU.S. Application Serial No. 15/856,357, filed on Dec. 28, 2017, nowissued as U.S. Patent No. 10,630,622 on Apr. 21, 2020, each of which ishereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The subject matter disclosed herein generally relates to the processingof data. Specifically, in some example embodiments, the presentdisclosure addresses systems and methods for adding images via amultimedia messaging service (MMS) to a draft.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not limitation inthe figures of the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a network diagram illustrating a network environment suitablefor adding images via MMS to a draft, according to some exampleembodiments.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating components of an e-commerceserver suitable for adding images via MMS to a draft, according to someexample embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a user interface suitable forediting a draft, according to some example embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a user interface suitable foradding images via MMS to a draft, according to some example embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a database schema suitable foradding images via MMS to a draft, according to some example embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating operations of an e-commerce server inperforming a method of adding images via MMS to a draft, according tosome example embodiments.

FIG. 7 is a communication chart illustration that illustratescommunications of servers and devices in performing a method of addingimages via MMS to a draft, according to some example embodiments.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a softwarearchitecture that may be installed on a machine, according to someexample embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the form of acomputer system within which a set of instructions may be executed forcausing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein, according to an example embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Example methods and systems are directed to adding images (e.g., photos)via MMS to a draft. Examples merely typify possible variations. Unlessexplicitly stated otherwise, components and functions are optional andmay be combined or subdivided, and operations may vary in sequence or becombined or subdivided. In the following description, for purposes ofexplanation, numerous specific details are set forth to provide athorough understanding of example embodiments. It will be evident to oneskilled in the art, however, that the present subject matter may bepracticed without these specific details.

A user may create a draft document by interacting with a server. Forexample, the server may provide a web page that includes text fieldsthat are filled in by the user via a web browser of a client device.Images (e.g., photos) may be uploaded from the client device to theserver for inclusion in the draft document. In some cases, images to beincluded in the draft document are not stored on the client device, buton a second device (e.g., a mobile phone).

The server may send a message to the second device (e.g., using theshort message service (SMS)). The message may prompt the user to respondwith a message (e.g., a multimedia messaging service (MMS) message) thatincludes an image to be added to the draft. The server receives theimage and modifies the draft (e.g., by updating the web page beingdisplayed on the client device). This process allows the user to typetext for a draft using a first device that includes a keyboard (e.g., adesktop or laptop computer) and to add an image to the draft using asecond device that includes a camera (e.g., a mobile phone or tabletcomputer) without having to transfer the image from the second device tothe first device.

Historically, transferring images from a mobile device to a desktopcomputer required connecting the mobile device with a universal serialbus (USB) or other hardwired connection. This process is cumbersomebecause it requires the user to find the required cable, attach thecable to the two devices, navigate the file structure of the mobiledevice to find the image, and copy the image to the desktop computer.Alternatively, images could be transferred by first transferring theimages to a file or image storage application on the cloud, thentransferring the images from the cloud to the desktop computer. Thisprocess also requires the user to perform multiple steps: logging intothe cloud application from the mobile device, uploading the file,logging into the cloud application from the desktop computer, anddownloading the file. With the systems and methods described herein, theuser neither requires a hardwired connection nor has to be logged into acloud account on multiple devices.

Another aspect of the systems and methods described herein is reducedprocessing and memory storage. In the existing methods of transferringfiles via a desktop computer, the desktop computer must store the imageand use processor cycles in receiving the image from the mobile deviceand in uploading the image to the server. By transferring the imagedirectly from the mobile device to the server creating the draftdocument, computing resources of the desktop computer are saved.

FIG. 1 is a network diagram illustrating a network environment 100suitable for adding images via MMS to a draft, according to some exampleembodiments. The network environment 100 includes an e-commerce server120, an SMS gateway 130, and devices 150A, 150B, 150C, and 190 allcommunicatively coupled to each other via a network 140. The devices150A, 150B, and 150C may be collectively referred to as “devices 150,”or generically referred to as a “device 150.” The e-commerce server 120and the SMS gateway 130 may be part of a network-based system 110. Thedevices 150 may interact with the e-commerce server 120 using a webclient 180A, an app client 180B, or an MMS client 170. The e-commerceserver 120, the SMS gateway 130, the devices 150, and the device 190 mayeach be implemented in a computer system, in whole or in part, asdescribed below with respect to FIGS. 8-9 .

The e-commerce server 120 provides an electronic commerce application toother machines (e.g., the devices 150 and 190) via the network 140. Thee-commerce server 120 may also be connected directly to, or integratedwith, the SMS gateway 130. The electronic commerce application mayprovide a way for users to buy and sell items directly to each other, tobuy from and sell to the electronic commerce application provider, orboth.

The SMS gateway 130 provides a programmatic interface for sending andreceiving SMS and MMS messages. The SMS gateway 130 may be used by thee-commerce server 120 to send an SMS message that requests an image andto receive an MMS message that includes an image.

Also shown in FIG. 1 is a user 160. The user 160 may be a human user(e.g., a human being), a machine user (e.g., a computer configured by asoftware program to interact with the devices 150 and the e-commerceserver 120), or any suitable combination thereof (e.g., a human assistedby a machine or a machine supervised by a human). The user 160 is notpart of the network environment 100, but is associated with the devices150 and may be a user of the devices 150 (e.g., an owner of the devices150A, 150B, and 150C). For example, the device 150 may be a sensor, adesktop computer, a vehicle computer, a tablet computer, a navigationaldevice, a portable media device, or a smart phone belonging to the user160. The device 190 may be associated with a different user.

In some example embodiments, the e-commerce server 120 receives a draftitem listing from a user (e.g., the user 160). An item listing describesan item that can be purchased. For example, the user may create an itemlisting that describes an item owned by the user that may be purchasedby another user via the e-commerce server 120. Item listings includetext, one or more images, or both. The user may provide text for thedraft item listing using the web client 180A of the device 150A or theapp client 180B of the device 150B. The user may provide one or moreimages for the draft item listing using the MMS client 170 of the device150C. The e-commerce server 120 may provide the completed item listingto other client devices, such as the device 190 associated with adifferent user.

Any of the machines, databases, or devices shown in FIG. 1 may beimplemented in a general-purpose computer modified (e.g., configured orprogrammed) by software to be a special-purpose computer to perform thefunctions described herein for that machine, database, or device. Forexample, a computer system able to implement any one or more of themethodologies described herein is discussed below with respect to FIGS.8-9 . As used herein, a “database” is a data storage resource and maystore data structured as a text file, a table, a spreadsheet, arelational database (e.g., an object-relational database), a triplestore, a hierarchical data store, or any suitable combination thereof.Moreover, any two or more of the machines, databases, or devicesillustrated in FIG. 1 may be combined into a single machine, database,or device, and the functions described herein for any single machine,database, or device may be subdivided among multiple machines,databases, or devices.

The network 140 may be any network that enables communication between oramong machines, databases, and devices (e.g., the e-commerce server 120and the devices 150). Accordingly, the network 140 may be a wirednetwork, a wireless network (e.g., a mobile or cellular network), or anysuitable combination thereof. The network 140 may include one or moreportions that constitute a private network, a public network (e.g., theInternet), or any suitable combination thereof.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating components of the e-commerceserver 120, according to some example embodiments. The e-commerce server120 is shown as including a communication module 210, an MMS module 220,a draft module 230, and a storage module 240, all configured tocommunicate with each other (e.g., via a bus, shared memory, a switch,or application programming interfaces (APIs)). Any one or more of themodules described herein may be implemented using hardware (e.g., aprocessor of a machine) or a combination of hardware and software. Forexample, any module described herein may configure a processor toperform the operations described herein for that module. Moreover, anytwo or more of these modules may be combined into a single module, andthe functions described herein for a single module may be subdividedamong multiple modules. Furthermore, according to various exampleembodiments, modules described herein as being implemented within asingle machine, database, or device may be distributed across multiplemachines, databases, or devices.

The communication module 210 is configured to send and receive data. Forexample, the communication module 210 may receive text data over thenetwork 140 and send the received data to the draft module 230.

The MMS module 220 is configured to send and receive SMS and MMSmessages. For example, an SMS message may be sent to prompt a user of amobile device (e.g., a mobile phone or a tablet computer) to send animage in response. An MMS message may be received from the mobile devicethat includes the image. The received image may be provided to the draftmodule 230 for inclusion in a draft.

The draft module 230 is configured to provide a user interface forreceiving a draft document and to receive text for the draft document.For example, a user interface 300 (described below with respect to FIG.3 ) may be presented by the draft module 230, and text may be receivedvia an application interface or a web interface. The storage module 240is configured to store data regarding draft and published documents.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a user interface 300 suitable forediting a draft document, according to some example embodiments. As canbe seen in FIG. 3 , the user interface 300 includes a title 310(“Draft”), a text area 320, and buttons 330, 340, and 350.

The user interface 300 may be displayed in response to a user creating anew document or accessing an existing document. The text area 320displays text of the document (e.g., retrieved from a prior draft of thedocument, entered by the user into the text area 320, or any suitablecombination thereof). The draft document may be an article for a website, a description of an item for sale on an online marketplace, or adocument used for another purpose. The button 330 is operable to selectan image file to upload from the device on which the user interface 300is displayed. For example, a file-picker interface may be presented toallow the user to select a file stored on a hard drive of the user’scomputer. The selected file may be uploaded to the e-commerce server 120for inclusion in the draft.

The button 340 is operable to start a process by which one or moreimages are provided to the e-commerce server 120 from a device otherthan the device on which the user interface 300 is displayed. Forexample, the user may be prompted to enter a mobile phone number. Thee-commerce server 120 causes a text message to be sent to the enteredphone number. The user may respond to the text message with an MMSmessage that includes an image attachment. The e-commerce server 120receives the MMS message and accesses the image, adding the image to thedraft.

The button 350 is operable to publish the draft document. For example,draft documents may be accessible only to the author of the draft (e.g.,as indicated in a draft table 550, discussed below with respect to FIG.5 ), but published documents may be accessible by all users.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a user interface 400 suitable foradding images via MMS to a draft, according to some example embodiments.As can be seen in FIG. 4 , the user interface 400 includes a title 410(“MMS”), a received text message 420, and an outgoing MMS message 430.The user interface 400 may be shown on a screen of the device 150C afterthe e-commerce server 120 detects a user interaction with a userinterface element (e.g., after the user 160 operates the button 340 ofthe user interface 300).

The received text message 420 was received from the e-commerce server120 and includes a prompt for the user. The user responds to thereceived text message 420 with the MMS message 430 that includes animage. The received text message 420 includes a return phone number(e.g., in header data), and the image is sent by the MMS client 170 tothe return phone number. The received text message 420 may include anidentifier of a document, an identifier of an item referred to by thedocument (e.g., an item being listed for sale on the e-commerce server120), or another identifier. The identifier may be a title of thedocument (e.g., a title entered by the user, a title generated by thee-commerce server 120, or any suitable combination thereof) or anotheridentifier (e.g., a unique identifier used in a database, such as in adraft identifier field 570 discussed below with respect to FIG. 5 ).

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a database schema 500 suitablefor adding images via MMS to a draft, according to some exampleembodiments. The database schema 500 includes a user table 510 and adraft table 550. The user table 510 includes a user field 520, a mobilenumber field 530, and rows 540A, 540B, and 540C. The draft table 550includes a user field 560, a draft identifier (ID) field 570, and rows580A, 580B, and 580C.

Each of the rows 540A-540C stores information for a user. The user field520 stores a username or other unique identifier for each user. Themobile number field 530 stores a mobile phone number for each user.Thus, when the e-commerce server 120 requests an image via MMS from auser, the user table 510 may be used to identify the mobile phone numberfor the user, and the text message 420 of the user interface 400 may besent to the identified mobile phone number.

Each of the rows 580A-580C stores information for a draft document. Theuser field 560 stores the username of the author of the draft. The draftID field 570 stores a unique identifier for the draft. The draft table550 may be used by the e-commerce server 120 for access control. Forexample, after authenticating a user (e.g., by verifying a password),the e-commerce server 120 may allow the user to select a draft forediting. The draft table 550 may also be used to associate receivedimages (e.g., images received through the use of the user interface 400)with drafts. An image received from a mobile phone number associatedwith a user may be added to a draft associated with the same user. Whenmultiple drafts are associated with the user, the received image may beadded to the draft most recently edited by the user (e.g., as indicatedin a timestamp field added to the draft table 550).

The user tables of FIG. 5 allow for identification of specific useraccounts and their associated drafts, allowing provision to a desktopcomputer of only the images associated with a particular draft. Thissaves effort on the part of the desktop user, who would otherwise haveto identify the correct image for each listing. Additionally, thedatabase structure of FIG. 5 saves computing resources (both processorcycles and storage memory) by avoiding unnecessary downloading of imagesto the desktop computer and uploading of images from the desktopcomputer.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating operations of an e-commerce server inperforming a method 600 of adding images via MMS to a draft, accordingto some example embodiments. Operations in the method 600 may beperformed by the e-commerce server 120, using modules described abovewith respect to FIG. 2 .

In operation 610, the draft module 230 receives a user request to add animage to a draft via MMS. For example, the button 340 of the userinterface 300 may be pressed, clicked, or touched to indicate that theuser wishes to add an image to a draft. In some example embodiments, theuser request includes an identifier of a user account on an onlinemarketplace (e.g., a value corresponding to the user field 520 of theuser table 510 of FIG. 5 ).

In operation 620, the MMS module 220 sends an SMS or other text messageto a mobile device. In some example embodiments, the MMS module 220retrieves a phone number for the mobile device from the user table 510of the database schema 500. In response to receiving the SMS message,the mobile device (e.g., the device 150C) may display the user interface400. The MMS module 220 may send the text message via the SMS gateway130.

In operation 630, the MMS module 220 receives an MMS message from themobile device that includes the image to be added to the draft. In someexample embodiments, the MMS module 220 receives the MMS message via theSMS gateway 130. The draft module 230, in operation 640, adds thereceived image to the draft. For example, the received image may bestored by the storage module 240 and an image field of the draft table550 may be updated to indicate that the stored image is part of thedraft. As another example, a file storing the draft may be modified toinclude the image itself or a reference to the stored image.

FIG. 7 is a communication chart illustration 700 that illustratescommunications of servers and devices in performing a method of addingimages via MMS to a draft, according to some example embodiments. Thecommunication chart illustration 700 includes communications 710, 720,730, 740, 750, 760, and 770 among the e-commerce server 120 and thedevices 150A, 150C, and 190.

In the communication 710, the device 150A (e.g., a laptop or desktopcomputer) sends text data for a draft to the e-commerce server 120. Forexample, a user may enter text into the text area 320 of the userinterface 300 displayed in a web browser implementation of the webclient 180A. In response to receiving the text from the user, the webclient 180A may send the text via HTTP to the e-commerce server 120 viathe network 140 (e.g., the Internet).

The device 150A sends a request to add an image via MMS to thee-commerce server 120, in the communication 720. For example, the usermay interact with the button 340 of the user interface 300.

In response to receiving the request to add the image, the e-commerceserver 120 sends an SMS message requesting the image to the device 150C(e.g., a mobile phone or tablet), in the communication 730. The device150C responds to the SMS message with an MMS message that includes theimage, in the communication 740. In some example embodiments, the userprovides the image using the user interface 400. The e-commerce server120 may incorporate the received image into an electronic publication(e.g., a weblog, a news site, or an online catalog).

After receiving the image, the e-commerce server 120 updates the draftand sends, in the communication 750, the updated draft including theimage to the device 150A. The updated draft may be displayed on a screenof the device 150A (e.g., in an updated version of the user interface300 that includes the image).

In the communication 760, the device 150A approves the draft forpublication by the e-commerce server 120. For example, the user mayoperate the button 350 of the user interface 300 and the web client 180Amay send an instruction to publish the draft via HTTP.

The e-commerce server 120 sends, in the communication 770, the publisheddocument including the image to the device 190. For example, anotheruser may browse documents published by the e-commerce server 120 andreceive the published document.

According to various example embodiments, one or more of themethodologies described herein may facilitate adding images to documentsvia MMS. Hence, one or more of the methodologies described herein mayfacilitate adding an image to a document without requiring the user tofirst transfer the image from an image-capturing device to adocument-editing device.

When these effects are considered in aggregate, one or more of themethodologies described herein may obviate a need for certain efforts orresources that otherwise would be involved in adding images todocuments. Efforts expended by a user in transferring images may bereduced by one or more of the methodologies described herein. Computingresources used by one or more machines, databases, or devices (e.g.,within the network environment 100) may similarly be reduced. Examplesof such computing resources include processor cycles, network traffic,memory usage, data storage capacity, power consumption, and coolingcapacity.

Modules, Components, and Logic

Certain embodiments are described herein as including logic or a numberof components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules may constitute eithersoftware modules (e.g., code embodied on a non-transitorymachine-readable medium) or hardware-implemented modules. Ahardware-implemented module is a tangible unit capable of performingcertain operations and may be configured or arranged in a certainmanner. In example embodiments, one or more computer systems (e.g., astandalone, client, or server computer system) or one or more processorsmay be configured by software (e.g., an application or applicationportion) as a hardware-implemented module that operates to performcertain operations as described herein.

In various embodiments, a hardware-implemented module may be implementedmechanically or electronically. For example, a hardware-implementedmodule may comprise dedicated circuitry or logic that is permanentlyconfigured (e.g., as a special-purpose processor, such as a fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA) or an application-specific integratedcircuit (ASIC)) to perform certain operations. A hardware-implementedmodule may also comprise programmable logic or circuitry (e.g., asencompassed within a general-purpose processor or other programmableprocessor) that is temporarily configured by software to perform certainoperations. It will be appreciated that the decision to implement ahardware-implemented module mechanically, in dedicated and permanentlyconfigured circuitry, or in temporarily configured circuitry (e.g.,configured by software) may be driven by cost and time considerations.

Accordingly, the term “hardware-implemented module” should be understoodto encompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physicallyconstructed, permanently configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily ortransitorily configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a certainmanner and/or to perform certain operations described herein.Considering embodiments in which hardware-implemented modules aretemporarily configured (e.g., programmed), each of thehardware-implemented modules need not be configured or instantiated atany one instance in time. For example, where the hardware-implementedmodules comprise a general-purpose processor configured using software,the general-purpose processor may be configured as respective differenthardware-implemented modules at different times. Software mayaccordingly configure a processor, for example, to constitute aparticular hardware-implemented module at one instance of time and toconstitute a different hardware-implemented module at a differentinstance of time.

Hardware-implemented modules can provide information to, and receiveinformation from, other hardware-implemented modules. Accordingly, thedescribed hardware-implemented modules may be regarded as beingcommunicatively coupled. Where multiple of such hardware-implementedmodules exist contemporaneously, communications may be achieved throughsignal transmission (e.g., over appropriate circuits and buses thatconnect the hardware-implemented modules). In embodiments in whichmultiple hardware-implemented modules are configured or instantiated atdifferent times, communications between such hardware-implementedmodules may be achieved, for example, through the storage and retrievalof information in memory structures to which the multiplehardware-implemented modules have access. For example, onehardware-implemented module may perform an operation, and store theoutput of that operation in a memory device to which it iscommunicatively coupled. A further hardware-implemented module may then,at a later time, access the memory device to retrieve and process thestored output. Hardware-implemented modules may also initiatecommunications with input or output devices, and can operate on aresource (e.g., a collection of information).

The various operations of example methods described herein may beperformed, at least partially, by one or more processors that aretemporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured toperform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanentlyconfigured, such processors may constitute processor-implemented modulesthat operate to perform one or more operations or functions. The modulesreferred to herein may, in some example embodiments, compriseprocessor-implemented modules.

Similarly, the methods described herein may be at least partiallyprocessor-implemented. For example, at least some of the operations of amethod may be performed by one or more processors orprocessor-implemented modules. The performance of certain of theoperations may be distributed among the one or more processors, not onlyresiding within a single machine, but deployed across a number ofmachines. In some example embodiments, the processor or processors maybe located in a single location (e.g., within a home environment, anoffice environment, or a server farm), while in other embodiments theprocessors may be distributed across a number of locations.

The one or more processors may also operate to support performance ofthe relevant operations in a “cloud computing” environment or as a“software as a service” (SaaS). For example, at least some of theoperations may be performed by a group of computers (as examples ofmachines including processors), these operations being accessible via anetwork (e.g., the Internet) and via one or more appropriate interfaces(e.g., application programming interfaces (APIs)).

Electronic Apparatus and System

Example embodiments may be implemented in digital electronic circuitry,in computer hardware, firmware, or software, or in combinations of them.Example embodiments may be implemented using a computer program product,e.g., a computer program tangibly embodied in an information carrier,e.g., in a machine-readable medium for execution by, or to control theoperation of, data processing apparatus, e.g., a programmable processor,a computer, or multiple computers.

A computer program can be written in any form of programming language,including compiled or interpreted languages, and it can be deployed inany form, including as a standalone program or as a module, subroutine,or other unit suitable for use in a computing environment. A computerprogram can be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiplecomputers at one site or distributed across multiple sites andinterconnected by a communication network.

In example embodiments, operations may be performed by one or moreprogrammable processors executing a computer program to performfunctions by operating on input data and generating output. Methodoperations can also be performed by, and apparatus of exampleembodiments may be implemented as, special-purpose logic circuitry,e.g., a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application-specificintegrated circuit (ASIC).

The computing system can include clients and servers. A client andserver are generally remote from each other and typically interactthrough a communication network. The relationship of client and serverarises by virtue of computer programs running on the respectivecomputers and having a client-server relationship to each other. Inembodiments deploying a programmable computing system, it will beappreciated that both hardware and software architectures meritconsideration. Specifically, it will be appreciated that the choice ofwhether to implement certain functionality in permanently configuredhardware (e.g., an ASIC), in temporarily configured hardware (e.g., acombination of software and a programmable processor), or in acombination of permanently and temporarily configured hardware may be adesign choice. Below are set out hardware (e.g., machine) and softwarearchitectures that may be deployed, in various example embodiments.

Software Architecture

FIG. 8 is a block diagram 800 illustrating a software architecture 802,which may be installed on any one or more of the devices describedabove. FIG. 8 is merely a non-limiting example of a softwarearchitecture, and it will be appreciated that many other architecturesmay be implemented to facilitate the functionality described herein. Thesoftware architecture 802 may be implemented by hardware such as amachine 900 of FIG. 9 that includes processors 910, memory 930, and I/Ocomponents 950. In this example, the software architecture 802 may beconceptualized as a stack of layers where each layer may provide aparticular functionality. For example, the software architecture 802includes layers such as an operating system 804, libraries 806,frameworks 808, and applications 810. Operationally, the applications810 invoke application programming interface (API) calls 812 through thesoftware stack and receive messages 814 in response to the API calls812, according to some implementations.

In various implementations, the operating system 804 manages hardwareresources and provides common services. The operating system 804includes, for example, a kernel 820, services 822, and drivers 824. Thekernel 820 acts as an abstraction layer between the hardware and theother software layers in some implementations. For example, the kernel820 provides memory management, processor management (e.g., scheduling),component management, networking, and security settings, among otherfunctionality. The services 822 may provide other common services forthe other software layers. The drivers 824 may be responsible forcontrolling or interfacing with the underlying hardware. For instance,the drivers 824 may include display drivers, camera drivers,Bluetooth^(®) drivers, flash memory drivers, serial communicationdrivers (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB) drivers), Wi-Fi^(®) drivers,audio drivers, power management drivers, and so forth.

In some implementations, the libraries 806 provide a low-level commoninfrastructure that may be utilized by the applications 810. Thelibraries 806 may include system libraries 830 (e.g., C standardlibrary) that may provide functions such as memory allocation functions,string manipulation functions, mathematic functions, and the like. Inaddition, the libraries 806 may include API libraries 832 such as medialibraries (e.g., libraries to support presentation and manipulation ofvarious media formats such as Moving Picture Experts Group-4 (MPEG4),Advanced Video Coding (H.264 or AVC), Moving Picture Experts GroupLayer-3 (MP3), Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), Adaptive Multi-Rate (AMR)audio codec, Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG or JPG), or PortableNetwork Graphics (PNG)), graphics libraries (e.g., an OpenGL frameworkused to render in two dimensions (2D) and three dimensions (3D) in agraphic context on a display), database libraries (e.g., SQLite toprovide various relational database functions), web libraries (e.g.,WebKit to provide web browsing functionality), and the like. Thelibraries 806 may also include a wide variety of other libraries 834 toprovide many other APIs to the applications 810.

The frameworks 808 provide a high-level common infrastructure that maybe utilized by the applications 810, according to some implementations.For example, the frameworks 808 provide various graphic user interface(GUI) functions, high-level resource management, high-level locationservices, and so forth. The frameworks 808 may provide a broad spectrumof other APIs that may be utilized by the applications 810, some ofwhich may be specific to a particular operating system or platform.

In an example embodiment, the applications 810 include a homeapplication 850, a contacts application 852, a browser application 854,a book reader application 856, a location application 858, a mediaapplication 860, a messaging application 862, a game application 864,and a broad assortment of other applications such as a third-partyapplication 866. According to some embodiments, the applications 810 areprograms that execute functions defined in the programs. Variousprogramming languages may be employed to create one or more of theapplications 810, structured in a variety of manners, such asobject-orientated programming languages (e.g., Objective-C, Java, orC++) or procedural programming languages (e.g., C or assembly language).In a specific example, the third-party application 866 (e.g., anapplication developed using the Android™ or iOS™ software developmentkit (SDK) by an entity other than the vendor of the particular platform)may be mobile software running on a mobile operating system such asiOS™, Android™, Windows® Phone, or other mobile operating systems. Inthis example, the third-party application 866 may invoke the API calls812 provided by the mobile operating system (e.g., the operating system804) to facilitate functionality described herein.

Example Machine Architecture and Machine-readable MEDIUM

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating components of a machine 900,according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from amachine-readable medium (e.g., a machine-readable storage medium) andperform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.Specifically, FIG. 9 shows a diagrammatic representation of the machine900 in the example form of a computer system, within which instructions916 (e.g., software, a program, an application, an applet, an app, orother executable code) for causing the machine 900 to perform any one ormore of the methodologies discussed herein may be executed. Inalternative embodiments, the machine 900 operates as a standalone deviceor may be coupled (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networkeddeployment, the machine 900 may operate in the capacity of a servermachine or a client machine in a server-client network environment, oras a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) networkenvironment. The machine 900 may comprise, but not be limited to, aserver computer, a client computer, a personal computer (PC), a tabletcomputer, a laptop computer, a netbook, a set-top box (STB), a personaldigital assistant (PDA), an entertainment media system, a cellulartelephone, a smart phone, a mobile device, a wearable device (e.g., asmart watch), a smart home device (e.g., a smart appliance), other smartdevices, a web appliance, a network router, a network switch, a networkbridge, or any machine capable of executing the instructions 916,sequentially or otherwise, that specify actions to be taken by themachine 900. Further, while only a single machine 900 is illustrated,the term “machine” shall also be taken to include a collection ofmachines 900 that individually or jointly execute the instructions 916to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

The machine 900 may include processors 910, memory 930, and I/Ocomponents 950, which may be configured to communicate with each othervia a bus 902. In an example embodiment, the processors 910 (e.g., aCentral Processing Unit (CPU), a Reduced Instruction Set Computing(RISC) processor, a Complex Instruction Set Computing (CISC) processor,a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), anApplication-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Radio-FrequencyIntegrated Circuit (RFIC), another processor, or any suitablecombination thereof) may include, for example, a processor 912 and aprocessor 914 that may execute the instructions 916. The term“processor” is intended to include multi-core processors that maycomprise two or more independent processors (also referred to as“cores”) that may execute instructions contemporaneously. Although FIG.9 shows multiple processors, the machine 900 may include a singleprocessor with a single core, a single processor with multiple cores(e.g., a multi-core processor), multiple processors with a single core,multiple processors with multiple cores, or any combination thereof.

The memory 930 may include a main memory 932, a static memory 934, and astorage unit 936 accessible to the processors 910 via the bus 902. Thestorage unit 936 may include a machine-readable medium 938 on which arestored the instructions 916 embodying any one or more of themethodologies or functions described herein. The instructions 916 mayalso reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory932, within the static memory 934, within at least one of the processors910 (e.g., within the processor’s cache memory), or any suitablecombination thereof, during execution thereof by the machine 900.Accordingly, in various implementations, the main memory 932, the staticmemory 934, and the processors 910 are considered machine-readable media938.

As used herein, the term “memory” refers to a machine-readable medium938 able to store data temporarily or permanently and may be taken toinclude, but not be limited to, random-access memory (RAM), read-onlymemory (ROM), buffer memory, flash memory, and cache memory. While themachine-readable medium 938 is shown in an example embodiment to be asingle medium, the term “machine-readable medium” should be taken toinclude a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized ordistributed database, or associated caches and servers) able to storethe instructions 916. The term “machine-readable medium” shall also betaken to include any medium, or combination of multiple media, that iscapable of storing instructions (e.g., instructions 916) for executionby a machine (e.g., machine 900), such that the instructions, whenexecuted by one or more processors of the machine (e.g., processors910), cause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdescribed herein. Accordingly, a “machine-readable medium” refers to asingle storage apparatus or device, as well as “cloud-based” storagesystems or storage networks that include multiple storage apparatus ordevices. The term “machine-readable medium” shall accordingly be takento include, but not be limited to, one or more data repositories in theform of a solid-state memory (e.g., flash memory), an optical medium, amagnetic medium, other non-volatile memory (e.g., Erasable ProgrammableRead-Only Memory (EPROM)), or any suitable combination thereof. The term“machine-readable medium” specifically excludes non-statutory signalsper se.

The I/O components 950 include a wide variety of components to receiveinput, provide output, produce output, transmit information, exchangeinformation, capture measurements, and so on. In general, it will beappreciated that the I/O components 950 may include many othercomponents that are not shown in FIG. 9 . The I/O components 950 aregrouped according to functionality merely for simplifying the followingdiscussion and the grouping is in no way limiting. In various exampleembodiments, the I/O components 950 include output components 952 andinput components 954. The output components 952 include visualcomponents (e.g., a display such as a plasma display panel (PDP), alight emitting diode (LED) display, a liquid crystal display (LCD), aprojector, or a cathode ray tube (CRT)), acoustic components (e.g.,speakers), haptic components (e.g., a vibratory motor), other signalgenerators, and so forth. The input components 954 include alphanumericinput components (e.g., a keyboard, a touch screen configured to receivealphanumeric input, a photo-optical keyboard, or other alphanumericinput components), point-based input components (e.g., a mouse, atouchpad, a trackball, a joystick, a motion sensor, or other pointinginstruments), tactile input components (e.g., a physical button, a touchscreen that provides location and force of touches or touch gestures, orother tactile input components), audio input components (e.g., amicrophone), and the like.

In some further example embodiments, the I/O components 950 includebiometric components 956, motion components 958, environmentalcomponents 960, or position components 962, among a wide array of othercomponents. For example, the biometric components 956 include componentsto detect expressions (e.g., hand expressions, facial expressions, vocalexpressions, body gestures, or eye tracking), measure biosignals (e.g.,blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature, perspiration, or brainwaves), identify a person (e.g., voice identification, retinalidentification, facial identification, fingerprint identification, orelectroencephalogram-based identification), and the like. The motioncomponents 958 include acceleration sensor components (e.g.,accelerometer), gravitation sensor components, rotation sensorcomponents (e.g., gyroscope), and so forth. The environmental components960 include, for example, illumination sensor components (e.g.,photometer), temperature sensor components (e.g., one or morethermometers that detect ambient temperature), humidity sensorcomponents, pressure sensor components (e.g., barometer), acousticsensor components (e.g., one or more microphones that detect backgroundnoise), proximity sensor components (e.g., infrared sensors that detectnearby objects), gas sensors (e.g., machine olfaction detection sensors,gas detection sensors to detect concentrations of hazardous gases forsafety or to measure pollutants in the atmosphere), or other componentsthat may provide indications, measurements, or signals corresponding toa surrounding physical environment. The position components 962 includelocation sensor components (e.g., a Global Position System (GPS)receiver component), altitude sensor components (e.g., altimeters orbarometers that detect air pressure from which altitude may be derived),orientation sensor components (e.g., magnetometers), and the like.

Communication may be implemented using a wide variety of technologies.The I/O components 950 may include communication components 964 operableto couple the machine 900 to a network 980 or devices 970 via a coupling982 and a coupling 972, respectively. For example, the communicationcomponents 964 include a network interface component or another suitabledevice to interface with the network 980. In further examples, thecommunication components 964 include wired communication components,wireless communication components, cellular communication components,Near Field Communication (NFC) components, Bluetooth^(®) components(e.g., Bluetooth^(®) Low Energy), Wi-Fi^(®) components, and othercommunication components to provide communication via other modalities.The devices 970 may be another machine or any of a wide variety ofperipheral devices (e.g., a peripheral device coupled via a USB).

Moreover, in some implementations, the communication components 964detect identifiers or include components operable to detect identifiers.For example, the communication components 964 include Radio FrequencyIdentification (RFID) tag reader components, NFC smart tag detectioncomponents, optical reader components (e.g., an optical sensor to detectone-dimensional bar codes such as Universal Product Code (UPC) bar code,multi-dimensional bar codes such as Quick Response (QR) code, Azteccode, Data Matrix, Dataglyph, MaxiCode, PDF417, Ultra Code, UniformCommercial Code Reduced Space Symbology (UCC RSS)-2D bar code, and otheroptical codes), acoustic detection components (e.g., microphones toidentify tagged audio signals), or any suitable combination thereof. Inaddition, a variety of information can be derived via the communicationcomponents 964, such as location via Internet Protocol (IP) geolocation,location via Wi-Fi^(®) signal triangulation, location via detecting anNFC beacon signal that may indicate a particular location, and so forth.

Transmission Medium

In various example embodiments, one or more portions of the network 980may be an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, a virtual privatenetwork (VPN), a local area network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), a widearea network (WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), a metropolitan area network(MAN), the Internet, a portion of the Internet, a portion of the PublicSwitched Telephone Network (PSTN), a plain old telephone service (POTS)network, a cellular telephone network, a wireless network, a Wi-Fi^(®)network, another type of network, or a combination of two or more suchnetworks. For example, the network 980 or a portion of the network 980may include a wireless or cellular network and the coupling 982 may be aCode Division Multiple Access (CDMA) connection, a Global System forMobile communications (GSM) connection, or another type of cellular orwireless coupling. In this example, the coupling 982 may implement anyof a variety of types of data transfer technology, such as SingleCarrier Radio Transmission Technology (1×RTT), Evolution-Data Optimized(EVDO) technology, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) technology,Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) technology, thirdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) including 3G, fourth generationwireless (4G) networks, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System(UMTS), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Worldwide Interoperability forMicrowave Access (WiMAX), Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard, othersdefined by various standard-setting organizations, other long rangeprotocols, or other data transfer technology.

In example embodiments, the instructions 916 are transmitted or receivedover the network 980 using a transmission medium via a network interfacedevice (e.g., a network interface component included in thecommunication components 964) and utilizing any one of a number ofwell-known transfer protocols (e.g., Hypertext Transfer Protocol(HTTP)). Similarly, in other example embodiments, the instructions 916are transmitted or received using a transmission medium via the coupling972 (e.g., a peer-to-peer coupling) to the devices 970. The term“transmission medium” shall be taken to include any intangible mediumthat is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying the instructions 916for execution by the machine 900, and includes digital or analogcommunications signals or other intangible media to facilitatecommunication of such software.

Furthermore, the machine-readable medium 938 is non-transitory (in otherwords, not having any transitory signals) in that it does not embody apropagating signal. However, labeling the machine-readable medium 938 as“non-transitory” should not be construed to mean that the medium isincapable of movement; the medium should be considered as beingtransportable from one physical location to another. Additionally, sincethe machine-readable medium 938 is tangible, the medium may beconsidered to be a machine-readable device.

Language

Throughout this specification, plural instances may implementcomponents, operations, or structures described as a single instance.Although individual operations of one or more methods are illustratedand described as separate operations, one or more of the individualoperations may be performed concurrently, and nothing requires that theoperations be performed in the order illustrated. Structures andfunctionality presented as separate components in example configurationsmay be implemented as a combined structure or component. Similarly,structures and functionality presented as a single component may beimplemented as separate components. These and other variations,modifications, additions, and improvements fall within the scope of thesubject matter herein.

Although an overview of the inventive subject matter has been describedwith reference to specific example embodiments, various modificationsand changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from thebroader scope of embodiments of the present disclosure. Such embodimentsof the inventive subject matter may be referred to herein, individuallyor collectively, by the term “invention” merely for convenience andwithout intending to voluntarily limit the scope of this application toany single disclosure or inventive concept if more than one is, in fact,disclosed.

The embodiments illustrated herein are described in sufficient detail toenable those skilled in the art to practice the teachings disclosed.Other embodiments may be used and derived therefrom, such thatstructural and logical substitutions and changes may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of this disclosure. The Detailed Description,therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope ofvarious embodiments is defined only by the appended claims, along withthe full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

As used herein, the term “or” may be construed in either an inclusive orexclusive sense. Moreover, plural instances may be provided forresources, operations, or structures described herein as a singleinstance. Additionally, boundaries between various resources,operations, modules, engines, and data stores are somewhat arbitrary,and particular operations are illustrated in a context of specificillustrative configurations. Other allocations of functionality areenvisioned and may fall within a scope of various embodiments of thepresent disclosure. In general, structures and functionality presentedas separate resources in the example configurations may be implementedas a combined structure or resource. Similarly, structures andfunctionality presented as a single resource may be implemented asseparate resources. These and other variations, modifications,additions, and improvements fall within a scope of embodiments of thepresent disclosure as represented by the appended claims. Thespecification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in anillustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: sending data from a firstdevice associated with a user, the data being for a draft document;sending a request to add an image stored at a second device associatedwith the user and separate from the first device, the image to beassociated with the data; and presenting, at the first device, the dataand the image received from the second device via a multimedia messagingservice (MMS) message that includes the image associated with the data.2. The method of claim 1, wherein the image is added to the draftdocument by modifying a file.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein theimage is added to the draft document by modifying a table in a database.4. The method of claim 1, wherein sending the request comprisesdetecting a user interaction with a user interface element at the firstdevice.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the data is a description ofan item for sale on an online marketplace.
 6. The method of claim 5,wherein the request includes an identifier of a user account on theonline marketplace.
 7. The method of claim 5, wherein the requestincludes an identifier of the item.
 8. The method of claim 1, whereinthe image is incorporated into an electronic publication.
 9. The methodof claim 1, wherein the first device and the second device are owned bythe user.
 10. A system comprising: a memory that stores instructions;and one or more processors configured by the instructions to performoperations comprising: sending data from a first device associated witha user, the data being for a draft document; sending a request to add animage stored at a second device associated with the user and separatefrom the first device, the image to be associated with the data; andpresenting, at the first device, the data and the image received fromthe second device via a multimedia messaging service (MMS) message thatincludes the image associated with the data.
 11. The system of claim 10,wherein the image is added to the draft document by modifying a file.12. The system of claim 10, wherein the image is added to the draftdocument by modifying a table in a database.
 13. The system of claim 10,wherein sending the request comprises detecting a user interaction witha user interface element at the first device.
 14. The system of claim10, wherein the data is a description of an item for sale on an onlinemarketplace and the request includes one of an identifier of a useraccount on the online marketplace or an identifier of the item.
 15. Thesystem of claim 10, wherein the image is incorporated into an electronicpublication and the first device and the second device are owned by theuser.
 16. A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprisinginstructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a machine,cause the machine to perform operations comprising: sending data from afirst device associated with a user, the data being for a draftdocument; sending a request to add an image stored at a second deviceassociated with the user and separate from the first device, the imageto be associated with the data; and presenting, at the first device, thedata and the image received from the second device via a multimediamessaging service (MMS) message that includes the image associated withthe data.
 17. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 16,wherein the image is added to the draft document by modifying a file.18. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 16, wherein theimage is added to the draft document by modifying a table in a database.19. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 16, whereinsending the request comprises detecting a user interaction with a userinterface element at the first device.
 20. The non-transitorymachine-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the image is incorporatedinto an electronic publication and the first device and the seconddevice are owned by the user.